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Storyline
The Lindenwood men's volleyball team has two matches this week, including one of the biggest home matches in program history.

The week starts on the road as the Lions travel to Missouri Baptist on Wednesday evening. Those two teams have already met once, with Lindenwood winning 3-0.

On Saturday evening, Lindenwood hosts Lewis, the No. 7 team at the NCAA Division I-II level. Lewis will be the highest ranked team that Lindenwood has faced in program history.

Last Time Out
The Lions volleyball squad had its best hitting percentage of the season last Wednesday night at the Hyland Arena during a 25-13, 25-11, and 25-16 victory against Fontbonne.

Lindenwood recorded 40 kills and hit .459 for the match. It had nearly an 80 percent sideout percentage. Defensive, the Lions had eight more blocks than the Griffins and it held Fontbonne to a .025 hitting percentage.

Twelve different Lions had at least one kill, led by Austin Tudor with eight kills. Michael Adams played just one set but still had seven kills and a .700 attack percentage. Christopher Cox led the team with 18 assists, two more than Kevin Schmalzried. Defensively, David Poole had seven digs and was perfect on 12 serve receives, and Logan Jarus recorded four blocks.

Off The Bench
Austin Tudor has been the top offensive threat off the bench this year for Lindenwood. He is averaging just under three points a set, and has 2.33 kills a set.

In the last two matches that Tudor has appeared in, he has averaged 4.00 kills, 1.50 digs, and 1.00 aces a set. In that span, he is hitting .500.

Team Leaders
Jack Mitchell leads the team in 2012 with 158 kills and 3.22 kills a set. He has led the team in kills in nine matches and has nine double-figure kill matches.

Other offensive leaders are Scott Siwicki with a .410 attack percentage, Tim Schmidt with 10.24 assists a set and Michael Adams with 17 service aces.

Defensively, Cory Buehler leads the team with 101 digs and a 2.24 dig average. Logan Jarus is the leading blocker with 46 blocks and he is averaging just under a block a set.

First Collegiate Match
Three Lions played in their first collegiate match last Wednesday against Fontbonne.

JeVaughn Saunders had four kills, four digs, and he hit .444. Thomas Cruz recorded three kills and two blocks, and hit .300. John Thompson played in the final set for his first action.

Hitting Percentages
Lindenwood is hitting .264 this season during its eight victories. In the five losses, the Lions are hitting just .201.

Opponents are hitting .169 in Lindenwood's victories and .281 in Lindenwood's losses.

Service Aces Statistics
Lindenwood is 8-0 this season when recording more aces or the same number of aces as the opponent. It is 0-5 when having less aces than the other team.

Earlier This Season
Lindenwood has already played Missouri Baptist once, winning 3-0 at the Hyland Arena. The scores were 25-22, 25-16, and 25-15.

The Lions hit .382, compared to a .210 mark for Missouri Baptist. The trio of Jack Mitchell, JM Plummer, and Michael Adams had 29 kills.

Vs. Ranked Teams
Lindenwood will be playing a nationally-ranked NCAA Division I-II program for the tenth time in history on Saturday against Lewis. The Lions are still looking for their first victory against a top-15 team at that level.

Lindenwood has lost six of the previous nine matches in straight sets, and two others in four sets. The closest it came to a victory came in 2009 when it lost 3-2 versus Lewis.

The No. 7 Flyers are the second top-ten team to face Lindenwood. The other came in 2002 when Ball State was ranked No. 10 at the time it played the Lions.

About the Spartans
Missouri Baptist is currently 11-6 on the year and ranked No. 3 at the NAIA level. The Spartans are among the NAIA leaders with a .304 attack percentage.

The duo of Jonathan Roldan and Gustavo Cintron both average over three kills a game. Robert Esser leads the team in assists with a 10.42 average. Defensively, Danny Traylor has a 1.88 dig average and Zach Zeris averages 1.17 blocks a game.

Head coach of Missouri Baptist is John Yehling, who is in his tenth season at the school.

About the Flyers
Lewis is 10-3 on the season prior to a home match on Thursday against the defending national champions, Ohio State. The team is 4-2 this season against ranked NCAA Division I-II programs.

The Flyers are hitting over .300 as a team. Defensively, they average 7.71 digs and 2.77 blocks a set.

Jay Petty leads Lewis with a 3.93 kill average. BJ Boldog averages over 10 assists a game, Eric Varney has a 1.89 dig average, and Aaron Flick and Matt Gallik both average over a block a match.

Head coach of Lewis is Dan Friend. He is in his 15th season as a head coach and has won 294 matches, including 135 at Lewis.

Up Next
The Lions host the Lindenwood Classic on March 2-3. Participating teams include California Baptist, Limestone, King, Missouri Baptist, and Pfeiffer.